21% of American adults spend $197 Billion on obligation travel

5 April 2013

With wedding season fast approaching, Hotwire.com, a leading discount travel site, today revealed more results from its second annual American Travel Behavior Survey, conducted online on its behalf by Harris Interactive in October 2012 among over 2,000 U.S. adults. According to the survey, during the last 12 months, 21 percent of American adults spent as much as $197 Billion on trips they felt obliged to take. Furthermore, 48 percent of Americans spent money on obligation trips to weddings of family and friends during the same time period and were anticipating they would do the same next season. With so much money allocated to obligatory travel, travelers may be thinking about putting off the fun trips they want to take because they believe they won’t be able to afford them. The good news is the travel experts at Hotwire have compiled a Where to Go Now & How Guide to the top five affordable and fun destinations for spring, so even if travelers have to attend a wedding or some other obligatory event this season, they should look to one of the following destinations for more fun-on-the-dollar.

“We know Americans across the country are using large portions of their travel budgets so they can make it to all those ‘must see’ moments in life like weddings, reunions, birthdays and major holidays,” said Clem Bason , president of the Hotwire Group. “Fortunately, obligation trips don’t have to come at the cost of leisure travel if you have the right resource guiding you toward savings. We’re offering deep discounts to a variety of locations so that this year you can comfortably afford both the must-go and must-have trips.”